Volleyball

Volleyball Starts Big Sky Play This Weekend

Sep 17, 2010

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern
Arizona volleyball kicks off the Big Sky Conference season with a
pair of matches this weekend. The Lumberjacks travel to Idaho
State on Friday, September 16 and Weber State on Saturday,
September 17. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m.

NAU (4-6) opened the 2010 fall
season with three tournaments traveling to Laramie, Wyo., for the
UniWyo Wyoming Invite and to Reno, Nev., for the Nevada Wolfpack
Invitational.

Between those events, the
Lumberjacks hosted the Fiesta Bowl Tournament and won the team
title going 3-0 while producing the event's Most Valuable Player,
Kobi
Christensen.

"We have a young team again this
year and are trying to find the right combination of players in
these first couple of tournaments," said head coach Craig
Choate. "The most important part of the season is conference
and I expect us to improve upon last year's results."

The Lumberjacks tied for seventh in
the Big Sky in 2009 and were again picked to finish in seventh this
fall. Entering Big Sky play, NAU is currently in fifth place
in the conference standings.

NAU plays, Idaho State, the
league's second best team during the non-conference year on
Friday. The Lumberjacks were swept by Idaho State a year ago
dropping both matches 3-1. This year, Idaho State opened the
year 7-3 winning the Texas Pan American Tournament and placing
second at the Drake Tournament.

On Saturday, NAU faces Weber State,
who is coming off a tournament championship at the Gardner-Webb
University Runnin' Bulldog Classic. The Wildcats opened the
season 0-8, but are 2-1 in their last three contests. Weber
State is currently in eighth place in the Big Sky standings.
NAU swept Weber State last year defeating the Wildcats 3-1 in
Flagstaff and 3-0 in Ogden, Utah.

DID YOU
KNOW…NAU finished second overall in the 2009-10 Big
Sky Conference All-Sports Standings behind Weber State. The
Lumberjacks were second in the men's standings and fourth in the
women's rankings.